ONE

Just a warning:  this is a long post

We've been doing a lot of celebrating this last week. We've been celebrating

Emmy's 1st birthday!

It so hard to believe that THIS...

and THIS...

Is now THIS...

and THIS!

Emmy is such joy in our lives and we are so blessed to have such a sweet little angel in our home.  She is an absolute ball!  I would do ANYTHING for this little girl! 

We has such a great time celebrating her birthday last weekend with all of our extended family.  Our house was pretty crowded but I wouldn't have done anything different. 

Take a look at how we've been celebrating.

I bought a cake stand a long time ago (I don't even think Emmy was born yet) knowing I would be using it on my little girls first birthday and henceforth as she celebrates each year.  So because I had a special platter I thought I needed a special cake.  I went to a little workshop at my neighbors house and she taught a group of ladies about fondant.  I left feeling like it was something I could surely do for Emmy's cake.  It was harder than it looked.  The night before her party my mom came over to help me with Emmy and the cake.

We were up till 11:30pm.

The cake turned out pretty cute.  It was by no means perfect, but is was my first fondant cake.

 

I made a special cake for Emmy to dive into.

The day of the party, I was SOOO excited!  The house was decorated.

There were goodies for the kids to take home

And I just anxiously waited for guests to arrive!

Our living room was full of people.

Our kitchen was full of people.  And there were even people standing outside!  I LOVED IT!

Everyone pitched in and brought chips, salads, drinks and all the goodies for a great BBQ!  I was in charge of the hamburger patties and dessert.  I bought the least expensive patties and they turned out to be SLIDERS!  They were SUPER mini after they were all cooked up and you had to put 2 on one bun!  I felt silly, but it was memorable! 

After dinner we opened presents!

Then we sang Happy Birthday and let Emmy dive into her cake! 

She was actually quite modest about it and didn't make a real mess. 

We all just sat back and watched.

Oh what a fun day it was.  Emmy is so loved and we are so blessed to have all our family so close by so we can get together for moments like this! 

TODAY was Emmy's

OFFICIAL 1st birthday. 

Brian has been out of town so I spent the weekend with my family.  We celebrated Emmy's day today by first, going to the Healthy Days Parade! 

This huge Sinclair dinosaur balloon was pretty random.  We joked about it being our own little Macy's parade.

After the parade we went home to rest.  Staying at the "Petersen Bed & Breakfast" wore us all out.  We were up WAY past our normal bedtimes!  

Later in the evening we had a little "party" for Emmy.  We sang, she attempted to blow out her candle.

 Opened more gifts then played with Emmy's new toy outside and just enjoyed the weather.

  

This has been such a great week. I can't say it too many times... I am so lucky to have the life I do. I am so blessed to be part of such a wonderful family (both my family and Brian's).

I am so blessed to have this sweet little girl as my shopping pal, confidant, dance partner, walking buddy, personal comedian, snuggler and daughter.

  HAPPY ONE YEAR EMMY! 

YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL AND WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!